Anyone put the front body clip from a 54 on a 53? I know there are some minor differences in the fenders and inner splash panels.
It should fit . I think the grill was the mostly the big change between those years , right ? Look the worst that will happen is it won't fit then you will have to cut and weld till it fits ! That's why they call it hotrodding and Kustomizing ! You take something from another car or year and make it fit ! Jim
I think it may* fit, but I'm not sure it will look right. '54 is a one year nose, with different inner and outer fenders, gravel pan, and air deflectors. The hoods are the same, thats about it. Though, if you think you can make it look right, go for it!
I can't just change the grill as the fenders are different, as well as the inner splash panels. I have both types of the inners and they measure the same so the front end should fit. Just have to find the sheet metal now. i understand that there are some differences in the fenders as someone has said that the 52 and 53 slope down slightly. i'm off to take a closer look at a 53. thanks for the comments.
Greg,if you look on www.1954ford.com in the Tech section you can see what the difference is,there was a post in the last few days showing pictures of a '54 Canadian Ford and a '54 American Ford the Canadian Fords kept the flathead and kingpin design suspension thru '54,what it comes down to is redrilling a few mounting holes at the bottom of the fenders and some possible t******* by the A-arms.
Jeff The post on the 54 site is mine. I'm still trying to iron out the differences but the total length from the firewall to the outrigger body supports seems to be the same, american and canadian models. The difference is the american models have 1" more from the firewall to the first body support and 1" less from the first to second body support. i would really appreciate the effort if someone with a 53 ranchwagon would measure from the firewall to the centre line of the first support, and first to second and second to third. centre line to centre line. My biggest problem right now is trying to determine if i need to use a 52 or 53 body. As the build sits now, the inner fender splash panels are about 1.5" too short which results in the rad support being behind the front cross member. This makes a mess of the work i have done, positioning the motor etc. thanks in advance
sorry greg, i wasnt aware there was that much of a difference between model years. of course i should have realized it as they could afford to make small styling changes year to year then, as opposed to now when they run with a model for several years.
Greg, could you post those same pictures here,a 52-53 Sedan would be the same from firewall up there are plenty of those here if you have a problem posting the pics pm skoh33 He can help you do it.
Jeff I think that the canadian frame that i bought is a 55 or later. It has ball joint suspension and the 54 Canadian didn't. This may answer my questions as the wheel base on the 55+ is 1/2" longer than the 54. interesting enough, the 54 body fits on the later?frame. I an now convinced that the earlier front clips from the 52 and 53 will fit on the 54 body adn visa versa. I just need to deal with the 1 3/4" difference in the firewall position from 54 to 55. it appears that the inner splash panels will have to be opened up on the front end to clear the control arm and the rad support moved forward to clear the fan. I'm not sure what is going to happen with the wheel well. This to will be that 1.75" further back towards the firewall. The bumper should be an easy fix to move back on the brackets at the frame.
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